


A Cry of Ravens

by theflarpchampion



Series: The Broken Crown Chronicles [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 16:34:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4144791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflarpchampion/pseuds/theflarpchampion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This will have spoilers for both TUC and GOT.<br/>This is a work in progress changes will be made until I am content with a final draft.<br/>current soundtrack:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxe4JOGOMvU&list=PL9TdgFQRuBhKtxNVU0KUSHKc8HSgiz42p&index=1</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This will have spoilers for both TUC and GOT.  
> This is a work in progress changes will be made until I am content with a final draft.  
> current soundtrack:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxe4JOGOMvU&list=PL9TdgFQRuBhKtxNVU0KUSHKc8HSgiz42p&index=1

The darkness swallowed Rhea, Bernar, and Agnes as soon as they flew from the safety of the lamp behind them. This was their first patrol since becoming a full member of the Royal Guard, and Bernar was filled with terror masked by excitement. He was a short boy with his silver/blond locks coming to Agnes’ shoulders. He and Agnes, an average sized girl with beautiful white hair, met as children, growing quite fond of each other and very close over the years. Agnes was the one to convince him to join the Royal Guard with her in the first place. During his training, Bernar came across Rhea, a sleek and quick witted Flyer with silver-grey fur and a reckless reputation.  
Over the next six months of training Rhea and Bernar became extremely close, building an unbreakable bond of trust. Having been his closest friend for years, Agnes suffered from a growing sense of jealousy. Not only was she losing her best friend, but like many of the cadets never found a Flyer with whom to bond. This jealousy steadily grew over the next 18 months as she and Bernar became increasingly more distant until the a month before they were due to graduate and become full members of the Royal Guard for at this moment Rhea and Bernar announced that they planned to officially bond to each other after taking their oaths at the cadet graduation ceremony.  
Twenty eight days of sulking in self pity gave Agnes the courage to confront Bernar and convince him to reconsider bonding to Rhea. It was during this confrontation when Agnes realized the true cause of such jealousy that held her down to her bones, that she had without fully knowing had developed feelings beyond friendship for him. Upon realizing this amidst the argument, she collapsed on Bernar’s bunk and sobbed unable to explain as Bernar comforted her. Since that moment the three of them fought side by side with immortal trust and love, even managing to be placed in the same squadron after they graduated.  
Bernar thought back to those days as they flew, realizing just how far they came and how far they have yet to go; how their training made them some of the most skilled fighters of their class. Only a dozen other cadets had found a Flyer to bond with so being the best of those wasn’t incredibly difficult for Rhea and the way Agnes worked a spear, Bernar believes that she was born with one in her hand. Deep in a daydream, he reached down to put a hand on the hilt of his sword and smiled. Bernar was not born with a talent for swordplay but he trained hard and slowly mastered the skill and though he was far from the most talented fighter of the cadets, that honor went to Sela, he could more than hold his own in a fight.  
The patrol was reaching the two hour mark when they decided to turn back so to avoid Rhea being too exhausted to fly back to the castle before the night ended. About fifteen minutes in the return trip however, Rhea’s ears started to rotate as she listened to the ground below.  
“Bernar...” Agnes whispered.  
“Hmm?” Bernar replied.  
“There’s….There’s something I’d like to talk to you about when we get back,” Agnes answered.  
“You can’t say it now?” Bernar inquired.  
“Well...”  
“That’s rather unusual,” Rhea interrupted.  
“What’s unusual?” Bernar questioned leaning closer to Rhea’s head to hear better.  
“There’s close to twenty Gnawers below us that weren’t there before. What’s even more strange is they’re just lying there,” Rhea explained.  
“Then we’ll have to take a closer look, the Captain will want to know what they’re doing here,” declared Agnes. She leaned up to whisper in Bernar’s ear again, “I’ll tell you when we’ve finished here,” she said before kissing his cheek and blushing.  
Being in agreement with Agnes, Rhea circled downward towards the ground and landed ten yards from the rats. They lit torches and walked forwards freezing in place when they came up on the rats. The scene that met them sent a chill down Bernar’s spine and brought him to his knees to avoid vomiting on the spot. Rhea placed a wing over him as much to comfort as to keep him close to her. Agnes slowly walked towards the carnage aghast. As she moved among the bodies Bernar could see the rats more clearly, while Rhea reared from a combination of fear and disgust.  
The ground beneath them had turned to mud from the amount of blood, some still bleeding from belly and neck wounds. Many had dangling flesh and shards of bone where paws and legs had been. Skulls with dislodged eyes shown through the blood and tattered skin of several faces. Bits of tail, each varying in length, littered the ground along with various teeth and bones.  
A chilling wind blew across their faces condensing Bernar’s breath before his eyes. Immediately following the wind he could hear Agnes shouting. Looking up to determine the reason Bernar saw Agnes sprinting towards them, but vanished when their torches inexplicably extinguished. Bernar heard Agnes stop running. Squinting in vain to see through the eternal night, he heard what sounded like an animal screaming in pain, then the distinct sound of a spear piercing flesh and scraping against bone. Silence filled the air followed by yet more cold.  
Bernar awaited for Agnes’ return in icy darkness. Several minutes passed in silence before Bernar got to his feet and walked towards the dead lighting his torch as he went. When he finally had a fire going he looked up to find Agnes facing away from him in an empty pool of bloody mud. Before Bernar could call out to her, she slowly turned around to exhibit her now pale skin, violet eyes turned an icy blue. Blood ran from a gaping hole in her thorax between her sternum and left breast, soaking into her shirt. She didn’t say a word or make sound of any kind, just stared in his direction then slowly lifted her arm and finger pointing directly at him and began walking forward after lowering her arm.  
Terrified Bernar ran back to find Rhea and get back to the castle. Something had moved those Gnawers, something had taken hold of Agnes and Bernar was not going to stay to learn what that something was. He quickly found Rhea curled up in a pool of blood. Muttering “no” repeatedly to himself he rushed to her side to apply his basic training in first aid, but when he placed a hand on her fur, her head darted around and shrieked at him, slit throat flapping as air rushed passed it. Bright blue eyes once again stared right through him.  
Not knowing what to do, Bernar started running as fast as his feet would take him, in an attempt to put his most beloved friends as far behind him as possible. Once again the cold winds blew and the light from his torch faded into darkness. Bernar could hear the scampering of Gnawer’s feet and claws prompting him to push his body beyond it’s limits to escape.  
In the darkness that his eyes could barely adjust to, Bernar fell down a hill he couldn’t see and landed with the crack of bone and the ripping of flesh. Looking down he saw his foot pointing in a different direction to the rest of his leg and what was presumably his tibia protruding into the air as blood spurt down his leg.  
Tearing off his shirt he quickly ripped a long strip and tightly tied it around his thigh to hopefully slow down the bleeding. He finished tying the tourniquet and caught his breath. Bernar waited for what seemed like an eternity in silence. Sure that they had gone, he looked up to see if he could easily climb back up but was met with a pair of glowing blue eyes at the top of the hill. Fear and adrenaline forced Bernar to stand as best he could and limp away as fast as his broken leg would allow. He heard nothing, but felt the air around him drop even further in temperature. When he looked behind he saw a humanoid figure with those glowing blue eyes four feet from him.  
Bernar drew his sword and shield at a last attempt at survival. He swung his sword at the figure only to be blocked by a spear made of ice. Though it was too dark to see what happened exactly, when Bernar’s sword met the spear it felt as though it suddenly disappeared from his hand.  
Bernar fell onto his back and did his best to scramble away holding his shield in front of him for protection. The figure followed him, walking tall and proud, raised its arm and shattered Bernar’s shield. Bernar stopped, knowing death was imminent, and closed his eyes. He felt the tip of the spear touch his neck turning his skin black with frost. The pain caused him to blackout briefly only to be awoken by the sound of marching Gnawers. Bernar felt tears fall from his clenched eyes as he once again slipped out of consciousness.


	2. Hazard

The courtyard was quiet save the few who awoke early each day for extra training. Hazard was already proficient in combat mastering swordplay and archery early on. However, he trained in the courtyard each morning not to improve his skill, but instead he trained in the hopes that one of these mornings he would work up the courage to talk to Roana, a slender girl with bleached hair who’s amethyst eyes captured Hazard’s heart the first time she looked at him and smiled.  
This morning was different. Today training was cut short by the war horn blaring throughout Regalia. Two blasts. Hazard dropped his bow and ran to the front gate, Roana close behind, the horn meant one thing: Gnawers were approaching and Hazard was not about to miss this. As he ran, Hazard saw the scouts return to the castle rushing to deliver the news to the Queen. Hazard climbed on the top of an abandoned guard tower fifty yards from the main gate, that he considered to be the best vantage point. Hazard situated himself so to see as far beyond the gate as the restricted view of the tower would allow.  
“Room for two?” a strange voice asked.  
Hazard reeled around to find the golden face of Roana staring at him in inquiry. Hazard’s heart began to pound in his chest, his breathing becoming staggered and all he could do was look down and nod his head. Roana climbed up and knelt on Hazard’s left side, close enough to brush against him occasionally.  
To Hazard’s relief, the Gnawers became visible in the distance before he had to attempt a conversation with his new companion. A group of twelve Gnawers, led by Ser Riprot, approached the city gate with a human prisoner. Shortly after Hazard watched as Queen Luxa along with the Council and Ripred reach the gate waiting to give the order to open.  
Several minutes passed in near silence as the Gnawer’s came closer and closer, the gates being to open as they reached the entrance. When the Gnawers entered Regalia, Riprot rolled the prisoner onto the ground and gnashed his teeth at Luxa.  
The prisoner was clothed only in burlap pants with a rope belt to keep them from falling. He was a short man, boy really, with one leg severely broken and a bandage around his neck. His lips were cracked from dehydration, his breathing sharp and painful.  
“This boy is one of yours, no!?” Riprot snapped in a harsh, guttural voice.  
Luxa glanced down at the boy and back at Riprot. “He is. Recently graduated into the ranks of the Royal Guard too, why do you have him?”  
“We were investigating a patrol of ours that’s been missing, and we found him where they were killed,” Riprot replied, “the bodies were gone but the evidence remained.”  
“I gave no such order!” Luxa insisted.  
“He’s obviously mad, your Majesty,” snarled Riprot, “when we found him he was talking nonsense about the dead attacking him and his comrades.”  
Ripred leaned over and whispered to Luxa, “if you wish to keep their respect you’ll have to punish him yourself or let them, either way he’ll be sentenced to death for treason.”  
Luxa sighed, “if what you say is true, then he’ll be set to death under our laws for treason. Do with him as you wish.”  
With one swift motion, Riprot spun around to grab the prisoner around the neck with his teeth, bit into his soft flesh, and ripped his throat out spraying blood in all directions. Turning back to face Luxa, blood dripping from his now matted mouth, Riprot growled, “we also require twenty good men from your Royal Guard to replace those your men killed.”  
“Excuse me!?” Luxa argued in disgust.  
“Only life can pay for death, my Grace” Ripred informed Luxa.  
“I will do whatever it takes to ensure peace between our peoples. You can have five of my finest warriors.”  
“Twenty or the acts of war you committed against the Gnawer empire will go unforgiven,” Riprot explained.  
Luxa looked to Ripred for advice, though the look in his eyes told her he had none. Luxa shook her head as she tried to find the answer to the problem at hand. “I can only spare twelve men at the moment, the other eight will arrive within the month.”  
Riprot turned to his comrades and spoke in hushed voices. Turning around to again face Luxa, Riprot answered, “we have decided to accept your offer.” He moved in close to her and rasped out, “i hope for your sake the other eight men make it to the firelands on time.”  
Luxa gave a look of complete terror as Riprot and the rest of the Gnawers turned and left Regalia. Ripred turned to her and said, “you did all you could my queen. You cannot risk war with the Gnawers, especially not now.”  
“I know,” Luxa said wiping a tear from her cheek.  
Luxa, Ripred, and the council returned to the castle muttering among themselves as the walked. Roana looked at Hazard in awe.  
“Well that was exciting,” Roana exclaimed.  
“That’s one word for it,” Hazard replied, the shock of what he’d witnessed making him forget his fears, “the kingdom is in serious danger now with the threat of war back on the horizon.”  
“Yeah, but we’ll pull through. It’s not the first time we’ve been at war with the Gnawers and it sure won’t be the last,” Roana checked the time, “Oh I need to go, my mother will be wondering where I’ve been this whole time. See you at practice tomorrow.” Roana gave Hazard a pat on the shoulder before climbing down out of the guard tower. Before her head disappeared from sight she looked up to Hazard and said, “My name’s Roana by the way.”  
“Mine’s Hazard.”  
Roana smiled and finished climbing down before running off towards home. Hazard sat in the tower for some time thinking about what had just happened. Not only had he seen the next threat to the Underland, but he had actually talked to the girl of his dreams, Roana. He finished his daydream and climbed out of the tower himself and headed to the courtyard, he couldn’t practice tomorrow morning without his bow. On the way he couldn’t help repeating her name to himself and each time he said, “Roana,” a smile came to his lips.


End file.
